Originally posted by velo It is recommended that you intake 1 large water bottle per hour.

Depends on the climate. In cool, damp Ireland I was on about 2 large bottles a day on wet days.
The difficult thing is to keep drinking when its cold and dry.
As long as you pee clear, you are drinking enough.

Living in a climate that can be described as "warm" on it's coldest days, I make a deliberate point of drinking too much water, then I drink some more. It's not unusual for me to go through 10 litres in a day.

Thats an incredable amount of fluid going thru your body ChrisL. What kind of temperatures do you generally cycle in ?
If we cycle in more than 30 degrees here in Britain we fall of our bikes!..and call for a Nee Nah Nee Nah ( ambulance)

Originally posted by earleybird Thats an incredable amount of fluid going thru your body ChrisL. What kind of temperatures do you generally cycle in ?
If we cycle in more than 30 degrees here in Britain we fall of our bikes!..and call for a Nee Nah Nee Nah ( ambulance)

Temps of 30 degrees C are considered "normal" around here, and that's before I even mention the humidity, which I think is worse still. As I said before, I'd much rather drink too much water than not enough.

yes, adequate hydration is one of the most common problems/mistakes by cyclists.

doing regular activities, the body is pretty good about indicating thirst, but when cycling, especially in warm and/or dry conditions, the body needs more and signals through thirst TOO late that you need to drink.

so yeah, aim to drink a little bit every 15 minutes.

as for an amount per hr of cycling: depends on the conditions. i think i on average i drink about 1 liter for 2 hours or so... i usually go empty on a 3-hr ride if i only take 1 bottle and have a little left if i take 2. for longer rides i either take the larger capacity camel-back or i refill the bottles along the way.

also note: in the heat you usually are more likely to think about drinking b/c you are aware that you are hot and that you are sweating. one really common time for dehydration is when it's cold and dry b/c your body can actually use as much water as when it's hot you just don't notice... so take extra cxare to drink when it's cold and dry!

lastly: for tours and especially races, i start "loading" my water about 2 hours before the ride so that i begin with extra rather than a water deficit. of couse, if you drink too much you'll have to stop for a piss-break...

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